HOW IS THE VINEYARD NURSING ASSOCIATION FINANCED?
There is a misconception that, as a certified home health care agency, the cost of providing almost 14,000 home visits annually is reimbursed fully by Medicare and private insurance. The reality is that to varying degrees, we lose money each time one of our skilled medical staff members visits a patient. There are programs that we provide to the community, like home visits through Elder Services, that cost the VNA over $30,000 a year, and free breast and cervical cancer screenings to island women through the Women’s Health Network that cost the VNA over $65,000 a year. We must raise over $300,000 annually to balance the cost of services we provide to the community of Martha’s Vineyard and the income we receive as payment.
